There are two kinds of people in the world: those who make excuses and those who get results. An excuse person will find any excuse for why a job was not done, and a results person will find any reason why it can be done. Be a creator, not a reactor. — Alan Cohen, A Deep Breath Of Life

Posts tagged ‘prisoner’

Death Penalty: The pre-meditated and planned taking of a human life by a government in response to a crime committed by that legally convicted person.

What is the point of the death penalty? To remove someone from society that cannot properly rehabilitate? To try to discourage criminals from committing crimes? To punish the criminal rightfully? Or is it an attempt to raise justice on behalf of the victim? Maybe we only wish for the death penalty to be legalized in Canada so we can sleep soundly knowing anyone that commits a crime will be punished in the most severe way. This is wrong.

Killing someone isn’t going to make things better, it’s only going to cause more harm. If the convicted person(s) are put to death, it isn’t going to turn back the hands of time, people will still be lost, and crimes will still be at large, it’s only creating one more death, and countless hours of tears, struggle, and strain for everyone involved. We could put the criminal in the highest security prison available, and just leave them there to live life knowing all that they have done, and how it’s effecting the people around them, but instead we choose to kill them, and let them go without having to really appreciate what they did. By killing them we’re basically just causing their family and friends anguish.

Since 1989 there have been tens of thousands of cases where a person has been convicted, and sentenced to wait on death row, only to be released when a proper DNA test proved them to be innocent. 33% of cases were closed due to lost or missing evidence. This shows that the government doesn’t properly collect information regarding cases, and if they can’t even do that, how are we supposed to give them the grant to kill people? We’re risking our own lives in an attempt to protect ourselves.

People have been executed that did not directly kill a victim. As is the case of Doyle Skillern, from Texas, executed on January 16, 1985, for the murder of an undercover narcotics agent, although he was waiting in a car nearby when the murder took place. The shooter is serving a life sentence, but eligible for parole.

Innocent people have been wrongly accused, and in the case of Robert Fratta, who had been proven guilty for allegedly arranging his wife’s murder, they have been charged because they don’t have enough financial support for a better lawyer. Many innocent people die every year because of false accusations. By refusing the death penalty in Canada, we’re actually saving more lives.

The Death Penalty is the ultimate denial of Human Rights. It is cold-blooded killing of a human being in the name of justice. It violates the right to live. There can never be any justification for torture or for cruel punishment, and death does not solve any problems.Many states believe that when an innocent person is put to death, it can be viewed merely as an accident, but then couldn’t a person killing a victim be seen as an accident as well?

Many judges faced difficult decisions when the death penalty was active in Canada twenty years ago. Several admitted to feeling great pressure, seeing as they were compelled to make life-or-death decisions. This could have influenced the judge’s final decision. If someone’s fate rested in your hands would you really want to submit them to death, especially if you didn’t believe the death penalty was a valid punishment?

Contrary to popular belief of death penalty supporters, the homicide rate actually declined after abolition on July 14, 1976. (from 2.8 per 100,000 to 2.7).The House of Commons passed Bill C-84 on a free vote, abolishing capital punishment from the Canadian Criminal Code and replacing it with a mandatory life sentence without possibility of parole for 25 years for all first-degree murders.

Some Questions to Consider:

Do YOU believe the Death Penalty should be active in Canada?
What crimes should be worthy of the death penalty?
Would retaining a death penalty will be beneficial to Canada?